1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a device for improved operation of handguns. More particularly it relates to an improved pawl which, when used in combination with a Ruger(copyright) single action revolver such as the Vaquero(copyright), the Blackhawk(copyright), and handguns of similar mechanical single action operation. When installed, the improved pawl allows the handgun owner the ability to rotate the cylinder of a revolver either direction when the loading gate is open.
2. Prior Art
Revolver style handguns typically have a revolving cylinder which holds a number of cartridges to be fired by the firearm during use. Such cylinders allow for easy loading, firing, arid unloading of the revolver during use and give the user the ability to fire multiple rounds before having to reload the spent rounds in the cylinder. The capacity of revolving cylinder dictates the available rounds for firing by the user before reloading.
Loading and unloading the revolving cylinder of the typical Ruger(copyright) single action revolver such as the aforementioned models and revolvers of similar mechanical operations, traditionaly involve, opening the loading gate to gain access to the plurality of chambers in the revolving cylinder. Each such chamber is sized to accommodate the exterior circumference of the shell casing of the ammunition used to allow the ammunition to be slidably located inside the chamber. The number of chambers of courses determines the number of rounds available to be fired before the spent shell casings are removed from each chamber so that the chamber may be reloaded.
Single action revolvers, such as the aforementioned Ruger(copyright) revolvers and those of similar mechanical operation from both Ruger(copyright) and other manufacturers, conventionally are designed to allow a one direction rotation of the revolving cylinder by the factory pawl ratcheting the revolving cylinder. This one way rotation is accomplished by a ratchet style mechanical action of the factory pawl rotates the cylinder in one direction during the ratcheting action. At rest, the factory pawl is positioned to prevent a backward rotation of the rotating cylinder through positioning the pawl in contact with a cooperating part of the cylinder. During rotation using the factory pawl, with the loading gate open, the user hears a discernable clicking noise caused by the ratchet action of the engagement end of the factory pawl against the cooperating notches of the revolving cylinder. This interaction of the factory pawl continually engaging and disengaging notches on the revolving cylinder prevent reverse rotation of the cylinder as well as creating drag on the cylinder rotation. Consequently, users of revolvers of the aforementioned mechanical design may only load and unload the plurality of chambers with the conventional factory pawl activated revolving cylinder, by rotating the cylinder only in one direction.
The device disclosed herein are directed at an improved pawl configured for use in combination with the Ruger(copyright) single revolvers such as the Vaquero(copyright) and the Blackhawk(copyright) and revolvers of similar mechanical operation made by other manufacturers. Such revolvers have a removable trigger mechanism that is insertable into a shaft formed in the handgun body and are well known to those trained in the art. The free spin pawl herein described and disclosed, when installed on such revolvers, allow the user to take advantage of being able to load the chambers in the rotating cylinder of such revolvers by spinning the rotating cylinder in either direction. Additionally, the resistance caused by the ratcheting of the factory pawl against the rotating cylinder, which impedes the spin of the revolving cylinder when the loading gate is open, is eliminated. Eliminating this ratcheting contact when the revolver is in a resting or uncocked position, thus allows for a much easier and free spin in either direction by the user.
The disclosed device in it current best mode is a drop in part on most such revolvers and simply replaces the factory pawl. However, due to different tolerances in factory production of the aforementioned revolvers, some minor alterations are sometimes needed to assure a smooth and trouble-free operation. Generally however, removal of the factory provided cylinder pawl, and insertion of the free spin cylinder pawl herein disclosed, will afford the user the utility and benefits of a free spinning revolving cylinder when the loading gate is in the open position and the revolver is not cocked. This free spin of the cylinder not only makes it easier to spin than the original factory version, the cylinder may also be loaded by spinning it in either direction. This increased spinning utility of the revolving cylinder decreases the time needed to load and unload the spinning cylinder and also allows users with less dexterity a double option on how they wish to load their revolver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,530 (Melcher) teaches trigger system and a cylinder latch mechanism for a revolver. However Melcher teaches the use of a continually engaging pawl for rotating the cylinder preventing the rotation of the cylinder one direction when The revolver is in an at rest state.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,131 (Ruger) teaches a firing mechanism for a revolver, however, Ruger also teaches the use of a continually engaged cylinder pawl which both prevents the rotation of the cylinder in one direction, and inhibits the free spin of the pawl in the allowed direction due to friction caused by the continuously engaged cylinder pawl.
As such, there exists a need for an easily and inexpensively manufactured trigger mechanism that will totally disengage the cylinder pawl from the cylinder when the firearm is in the at rest position. Such a device should allow the cylinder of the a revolver in which it functions, to rotate in either direction when the revolver is in an at rest position during loading and unloading. There exists an additional need for such a device that will also totally disengage from the cylinder and alleviate the drag caused thereon thus making the cylinder easier to rotate during loading and unloading.
Applicant""s device provides an easily manufactured and installed cylinder pawl for retrofit to existing revolvers of the type described above which have removable trigger mechanisms that mount into a revolver frame. The disclosed improved pawl in the current best mode, and the additional pawl translating designs for newly manufactured similarly configured revolvers, when incorporated, allow for an unrestricted spin, in either direction, of the revolving cylinder of a conventional single action revolver style firearm, such as the aforementioned Ruger(copyright) single action Blackhawk(copyright) and Vaquero(copyright) revolvers and clones of these revolvers wherein the trigger mechanism is removable from a slotted frame configured for the revolving cylinder holding the ammunition for the revolver. In the current best mode of the device, a specially configured cylinder pawl, is easily installed in revolvers with little or no modification to the body, or to other components of the revolver during such installation. Such an easy installation is provided due to the inherent design characteristics to the aforementioned revolvers which feature a frame for carrying the revolving cylinder with the frame also being slotted to receive a trigger mechanism with a hammer and pawl which when operatively positioned in the slot in the frame operatively communicates with one end of the cylinder to rotate it.
The device features a unique configuration for a cylinder pawl in the current best mode which allows the pawl vertical translation using the conventional axis pin mount on the rotating hammer, as well as concurrent controlled lateral translation of the engagement end, away from engagement with the indexing ratchet located on the hammer side of the revolving cylinder. Unlike conventional cylinder pawls which have only a first end for engagement of the cylinder indexing ratchet which extends from only one side of their axis pin mounting, the device herein disclosed features a second end extending from the axis pin at a defined length and angle to yield a means for disengagement of the cylinder pawl from the cylinder ratchet when the trigger and mechanically cooperating hammer are in an at rest position. This is accomplished by extending the second end of the cylinder pawl at a calculated angle from the center axis extending through the first end, and for a defined distance, the second end contacts the wall surface of an internal shaft formed in the frame of the revolver.
Contact of the cam end with the wall surface of the internal shaft of the frame is maintained by a biased plunger or pin which in the current best mode features a spring loaded plunger in contact with the first or engagement end on the side of the engagement end opposite the cylinder indexing ratchet. Such spring loaded plunger arrangements are common on currently manufactured revolvers using the conventional permanently engaged pawl. In the disclosed device, once the cylinder pawl is installed, the biasing of the spring loaded plunger translates the engagement end of the pawl toward the cylinder indexing ratchet and thus like a fulcrum, translates the cam end in the opposite direction toward the internal wall surface of the internal shaft. This contact of the cam end with the surface of the internal shaft formed in the conventional frame, laterally translates the opposite engagement end, away from, or out of, operative engagement with the cylinder indexing ratchet, when the hammer rotates to the at rest position. Conversely, when the hammer is rotated from an at rest position, to a ready to fire position, rotation of the hammer causes the axis pin which mounts the cylinder pawl to move upward toward the cylinder indexing ratchet. During this upward substantially in line travel of the axis pin, the cam end of the disclosed cylinder pawl frictionally engages with the wall surface of the shaft to rotate the pawl on the axis pin causing a lateral translation of the engagement end toward the cylinder indexing ratchet and engagement therewith for a registered rotation of the cylinder to place a chamber in line with the barrel and hammer.
The amount of lateral translation of the engagement end of the cylinder pawl to a point where the pawl is out of engagement with the cylinder indexing ratchet, is controlled by the length of the second end portion from the axis pin to the end contacting the wall surface and also the angle of the second end from the center axis of the engagement end. The length from the center of the axis pin upon which the cylinder pawl mounts may vary depending on the angle of the center axis through the axis pin to the second end. The appropriate defined length and angle of the second end forming the cam will thus be a mixture of sufficient length to provide sufficient torque to easily translate the engagement end out of operational engagement with the indexing ratchet at the chosen angle, while maintaining contact with the wall surface of the interior shaft without binding during operation.
By concurrently translating the ratchet end of the cylinder pawl to disengagement from the cylinder indexing ratchet at the same time that the ratchet end is moving downward upon the axis mount on the hammer, a complete disengagement of the cylinder indexing ratchet from the cooperatively engaging ratchet end is achieved when the hammer is in an at rest state. The at rest state in a single action revolver occurs when the hammer is in the forward position closest to the cylinder and biased against the frame of the gun. It is in the at rest state in which revolvers are conventionally loaded with ammunition for firing, or, have unfired rounds removed from the revolver. This is done by inserting or removing the appropriate ammunition into the plurality of chambers formed into the revolving cylinder which hold the ammunition. These chambers are conventionally accessed through a loading gate pivotally attached to the frame at the hammer end of the revolving cylinder. The loading gates when rotated to an open position, allows the user access to the chambers of the rotating cylinder. The loading gate is also often mechanically engaged with a cylinder latch that engages a plurality of cylinder latch notches in the exterior circumference of the rotating cylinder. The latch notches are in positions that when engaged with the cylinder latch, register the position of the chambers with the barrel to place ammunition in the appropriate chamber in a position to be fired by the gun. Rotating the loading gate to the unsealed position allowing access to the chambers also retracts the cylinder latch and thereby allows the cylinder to spin.
In revolvers with conventional pawl and ratchet configurations, the conventional pawl lacks the second end and thus the cam formed thereby. As such, when the hammer is in the at rest position, the conventional pawl is forced forward forcing the ratchet at the end of the conventional pawl into continued cooperative operative engagement at its engagement end with the indexing ratchet of the cylinder. Thus, when the axis pin on the rotating hammer moves downward, the biasing pin maintains the ratchet end in contact with the indexing ratchet. The result being that when the loading gate is open and the cylinder stop retracted thereby, the cylinder is prevented from rotating in one direction by the engagement of the ratchet end with the indexing ratchet. Additionally, the spin of the cylinder in the one direction allowed by the conventional pawl is inhibited by the friction of the engagement end and the indexing ratchet and the biased pin thereon.
In the disclosed device however, the limitations of the prior art are overcome through the unique design of the cylinder pawl. The disclosed device, as noted, features the second end extending from the axis pin which acts as a cam in contact with the wall surface of the internal shaft in the body. As a consequence, whenever the hammer is rotated to the at rest position, the ratchet end distal to the cam on the second end, laterally translates away from, and out of engagement with, the indexing ratchet of the rotating cylinder. Thus, when the loading gate is opened causing the cylinder stop retracted, the cylinder will spin freely in either direction, and will spin smoothly because there is no friction upon the indexing ratchet from the disengaged ratchet end of the cylinder pawl.
The user is thus given enhanced ability to load and unload ammunition from the chambers for use or storage by the ability to rotate the cylinder in either direction for the task at hand. Further utility is provided by the smooth uninhibited rotation that the disengagement of the ratchet end from the indexing ratchet provides.
While the current best mode of the device herein disclosed accomplishes the lateral translation of the engagement end of the cylinder pawl using a second end distal to the engagement end which is dimensioned to act as a lever or cam to rotate the cylinder pawl and achieve the lateral translation and disengagement of the engagement end, in newly manufactured revolvers the manufacturer might also alter the surface of the interior shaft or add other fittings designed to laterally translate the engagement end of the pawl. Applicant has described other means of achieving the lateral translation of the engagement end out of contact with the cylinder indexing ratchet that can be designed for newly manufactured firearms. While not as good as the current best mode of a two ended cylinder pawl, these other means of achieving a lateral translation of the engagement end of the cylinder pawl could be designed into the frame of new manufactured goods or retrofitted to existing firearm frames at an additional expense, and as such, all such means for disengaging the ratchet end of the cylinder pawl, from the cylinder indexing ratchet, when the firearm is in the resting position are anticipated.
An object of this invention is the provision a cylinder pawl system for a revolver style revolver, that disengages from the cylinder when the revolver is in an at rest state.
Another object of this invention is to provide a cylinder pawl system that allows the revolving cylinder of a reolver style firearm to rotate easily in either direction during loading or unloading by providing a means for disengagement of the cylinder pawl from the cylinder when the firearm is in an at rest position.
A further object of this invention is the provision design changes that would allow newly manufactured revolver style revolvers to encompass a laterally translatable engagement end on the cylinder pawl to disengage the pawl during loading and unloading procedures.
Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.